iOS versions market share in March 2023
Let's look at how the various operating systems we offer SDKs for are faring.
Please note: These are not the most recent figures. The latest article on iOS market share can be found here.
As of February 28, 2023, these are the market shares of major iOS versions in the TelemetryDeck data set:
- iOS 16: 87.7% (+1.2)
- iOS 15: 11.8% (-1.2)
- iOS 14: 0.2% (–)
- Other: 0.3% (–)
Let's compare this to our last Orbital Survey: the overwhelming majority of iPhones and iPads is running iOS 16, but another 1.2% of users have switched to iOS 16.
iOS 15 continues to dwindle, and iOS 14 is almost nonexistent in the TelemetryDeck data set.
Almost all iPhones are running iOS 16
Adoption of iOS 16, which was released to the public on September 12, 2022, was fairly quick. After just one day, more than a quarter of iOS devices in the TelemetryDeck data set were running iOS 16.
On October 20, 2022, just 39 days after the public release, more devices were running iOS 16 than were running iOS 15, at 46.5% running iOS 16 and 44.5% of devices running iOS 15.
On November 3, 2022, more devices were running iOS 16 than any other iOS version.
On February 1, 2023, 86.5% of all iPhones were running iOS 16.
On February 28, 2023, 87.7% of all iPhones are running iOS 16
See below for a list of our biases. Want updated information about iOS or Android adoption rates? Subscribe to our newsletter!
iOS 16.3 is adoption is going strong
As of Feb 28, iOS 16.3 is the most used minor version of iOS 16. 31.1% of devices in the TelemetryDeck data set with any version of iOS 16.* have that version installed.
16.2 is still installed on 25.0% of devices, and 16.1 on 25.5%. 16.0 still runs on 17.4% of devices with iOS 16..
The bugfix relase iOS 16.3.1 was adopted very quickly
If we just look at devices with iOS 16.3.* installed, 78.6% of those are running 16.3.1, the bugfix release that fixes various issues with iCloud syncing and closes a security vulnerability in the Safari browser. The rest are running 16.3.0.
Apple confirmed auto-update delays last year, so some users might not have been presented an update dialog yet. (If you want to upgrade your system manually, you can trigger the process by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update.)
However, the very steep adoption curve of iOS 16.3.1 points to the fact that it is important to Apple that the new version is running on as many devices as possible, owing to the fact that
According to Apple’s iOS 16.3.1 security page the update contains these security fixes:
Kernel
Available for: iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
CVE-2023-23514: Xinru Chi of Pangu Lab, Ned Williamson of Google Project Zero
WebKit
Available for: iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Description: A type confusion issue was addressed with improved checks.
WebKit Bugzilla: 251944
CVE-2023-23529: an anonymous researcher
iOS 17 is coming
Because Apple is internally testing apps on their development builds and test devices, we can see whenever they do more testing. It seems as if testing has had a surge in January 2023. This is not surprising, but it is pretty cool to see.
We expect an iOS beta launch for WWDC in June 2023 and the final launch in September 2023, as is customary.
So far there are no mentions of xrOS, the operating system for Apple's rumored headset, in the TelemetryDeck data set.
State of iOS versions in March 2023
Every time Apple releases a new version, be it a point release or a major new version, an overwhelming majority of users are very quick to update.
This is excellent news for developers and users alike: users who run the latest versions of the operating systems not only get all the new features but also tend to be more safe from malware, spyware, and security leaks.
And of course this is wonderful news for developers: by now almost all developers can safely requier iOS 16 for their apps without excluding too many customers.
Analyze your app Add TelemetryDeck to your app today!
Biases in the TelemetryDeck data set
- Our data set currently skews towards small and independent developers, who in turn tend to have more technically minded users.
- The oldest iOS version our SDK supports is iOS 12, so we have no data before that.
- We use the aggregated data from the 1551 apps we manage and around 1.9 million monthly active users. These charts will be more accurate as we grow.
- Our data set is mostly American and European apps (our most used locales are en_US at 52.08%, followed by de_DE at 11.21% and en_GB at 11.22%) Things might look different in other regions. Below is a chart of our combined locales over time:
